Forest & Bird says bladder kelp quota should be zero

Forest & Bird believes Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley is endangering coastal marine ecosystems by announcing today commercial harvesting quotas for bladder kelp.

Bladder kelp or giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) provides food and shelter for a large number of marine animals including paua, crayfish and other coastal fish, Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says. The kelp also plays a vital role in protecting our coastlines from storm damage and erosion.

“The quota should be set at zero until the Fisheries Ministry provides solid evidence that commercial harvesting will not cause serious damage to coastal ecosystems and to our inshore coastal fisheries,” Knowles says.

The ministry announced two bladder kelp fisheries will enter the quota management scheme from October 1. The minister has set catch limits of 1,238 tonnes for the east coast of the South Island and 274 tonnes for the Chatham Islands.

“There is a lack of information on the impacts of harvesting wild bladder kelp. Setting quotas for this very important species without understanding the impacts could threaten many coastal areas,” Knowles says.

The majority of submitters on the quota proposal wanted them set at zero. They included the NZ Marine Science Society, the Otago Conservation Board, local tangata whenua and recreational fishers and boating clubs.

The ministry’s consultation document proposed commercial harvesting on the basis of maximum quotas totalling 413 tonnes, but the minister has approved quotas totalling 1512 tonnes.

“It is putting short term profits before common sense, sound science and the health of our marine ecosystems,” Knowles says.

“Forest & Bird supports industries that farm kelp in a sustainable manner, but the removal of wild kelp cannot be justified.

“Kelp beds in New Zealand are relatively small and some kelp forest ecosystems are believed to be in decline. Harvesting is likely to increase the loss of this key habitat type.”

Because of the relatively small size of kelp beds in New Zealand, harvesting levels are unlikely to be able to be sustained at levels which would make the industry economically viable.

Harvesting of kelp in coastal Tasmania in the 1960s and 1970s failed due to a lack of available kelp. There has since been a 70 percent decline in kelp forests in Southeast Australia and Tasmania and there are plans to make bladder kelp forests an endangered habitat type.

ENDS

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